Work hard, play hard: 25 companies with a great work/life balance

For some, it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in work and have no free time — or vice versa. Glassdoor.com, a site that allows employees of just about any company to anonymously share their experiences on the job, recently gathered thousands of these reviews to find out which companies help their employees maintain the best work-life balance. These 25 companies, including two based in Massachusetts, top this year’s list.
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1. SAS Institute

SAS, based in North Carolina, is the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market and a top provider of business analytics software and services. “Each employee is given the chance to find a place to contribute and feel like they are valuable to the company’s success,” an anonymous reviewer wrote. “The culture at SAS encourages employees to care about their work instead of treating it like just a means to a paycheck.”

A systems developer with SAS said they worked 35 hours per week, and that most people get their own offices.

National Instruments is an Austin-based company that manufactures control, electromedical, measuring, and navigational instruments. One National Instruments employee said that they get to set their own hours and rarely have to put in more than 40 per week. “Everything is low-key,” the 10-year employee wrote. “People genuinely like going to work here.”
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3. Slalom Consulting

Seattle’s Slalom Consulting provides services in information tech management and development, business management, and finances. Most employees gave Slalom’s local focus — and resulting lack of travel — a huge thumbs up.
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4. MITRE

MITRE, located in Bedford, is a nonprofit organization that manages federally funded research and development centers, such as the National Security Engineering Center and Judiciary Engineering and Modernization Center. One reviewer lauded the “supportive and easygoing management” and wrote that MITRE is “a very easy place to work as hard or as little as you want.” Other employees appreciated the company’s flexibility when it came to when and where work was completed.
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5. Orbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide, the Chicago-based online travel agent, scored points for giving employees flexible working hours and a high level of autonomy. Many reviewers called it a great starting point to grow one’s career.
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6. Scottrade

Scottrade employees highlighted the online broker’s laid back, family atmosphere. Most found their jobs rather easy and stable, with little change to cause stress.
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7. Mentor Graphics

Employees at Oregon’s Mentor Graphics, which specializes in electronic design automation software, wrote that they have plenty of time outside of work to volunteer with co-workers or spend time with their families. Several mentioned that the flexible work schedule makes Mentor Graphics a good place for entry- and mid-level engineers.
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8. FactSet

FactSet provides global financial and economic information for investment analysis and is based in Norwalk, Conn. Employees appreciated the positive culture, work benefits, and flexible managers. An employee in the New York office wrote that the place tends to clear out at 5:30, and after a while some employees can begin working from home.
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9. Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, of Santa Clara, Calif., is a leader in creating scientific testing equipment. One current employee wrote that there are no predetermined work hours, meaning that you can pick up just about any shift.
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10. Nokia

Telecomm giant Nokia rounds out the top 10 best-balanced companies. A former senior software engineer praised the 9-5 schedule and “competent and cooperative attitude.” Others noted the generous vacation and sick leave packages.
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11. MathWorks

Natick-based MathWorks creates technical computing software that’s used in a variety of industries, from aerospace to university research. Relative job stability, great health care benefits, and a stress-free environment led many employees to recommend MathWorks to recent college grads.
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12. Autodesk

Autodesk creates engineering, 3D design, and entertainment software. “They have a very flexible schedule, with ability to work remotely, [and] required vacation time,” wrote one current employee. Another wrote that great benefits and above-scale pay, plus smart and fun colleagues, made for an easily balanced schedule.
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13. AOL

Yes, AOL is still around, and it made the list for its flexible schedules and genuine care for employees, one wrote. A former recruitment coordinator appreciated the fun, collaborative culture and wrote that the work-life balance was great, as long as one got the job done.

Citrix Systems, which makes a variety of software designed to ease connectivity and networking, had rave reviews when it came to work-life balance. “Very flexible… good pay, decent growth opportunity, overall the best company I have worked for,” wrote one enthusiastic former employee. “They have a very good benefits package and salaries are very competitive,” wrote another.
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15. GlobalLogic

Employees at product developer GlobalLogic’s offices abroad said that great relationships with co-workers and a solid health care program contributed to a good work culture.
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16. Yahoo!

Yahoo’s awesome perks, intelligent and energetic colleagues, and a collaborative environment make going to work less of a drag and more of something to look forward to. “You get the feeling that people want to be there,” one tech recruiter wrote.
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17. Tieto

Employees of Finnish IT services provider Tieto wrote that reasonable line managers and dedication to helping employees succeed create a good work culture that makes it easy to balance with other commitments.
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18. MasterCard

MasterCard is “family oriented, but not to a fault!” one employee wrote. Others said that great benefits and “a very casual and open working style” made it a great place to work.
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19. Morningstar

Morningstar provides financial data and analysis for individual, professional, and institutional investors. An equity analyst at the company wrote that the opportunities to work remotely, tuition reimbursement and educational stipends, and flexible vacation policy made balancing work easy.
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20. Shell Oil

Shell Oil gives employees good pay and benefit and vacation packages, according to employees. Many also wrote that the collaborative culture was also a big plus.
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21. Robert Bosch

Robert Bosch, a German transportation equipment manufacturer, lets employees work flexible hours and gives them good benefits, relative stability, and few strict deadlines.
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22. Chevron

Employees at oil and gas company Chevron say that creating a work/life balance is really up to individuals. One employee noted that the balance is generally good, but that ambitious workers will have to put in long hours in order to really move up in the company.
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23. REI

REI, the recreational and outdoor equipment retailer, “is about more than just money,” one employee in New York wrote. A former sales associate wrote that management was accommodating and the benefits were excellent.
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24. STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics, based in Geneva, Switzerland, earned rave reviews for its vacation policy. “You could take 4-5 weeks off in a row,” wrote a senior principal consultant in Scottsdale, Ariz. A software engineer in Santa Clara, Calif., chalked the laid back attitude up to “typical European culture.”
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25. NetApp

Employees at NetApp, a Sunnyvale, Calif., computer hardware manufacturer, tend to “focus on having fun and living the values that make [up] the corporate culture,” wrote a former global partner manager. Benefits like getting time off to volunteer and unlimited sick days were also much appreciated.
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